Where it Shines:
Hand Drawn??! - 10/10
Music & Sound Design - 9/10
Tough but Fair - 9/10
The Good:
This is one of those rare times a game truly lives up to it's hype. I'm not much for tough as nails games, but Cuphead walks a very nice line between difficult and doable. There are even simple versions of the bosses if you are struggling.
The gameplay is fun, fast, frantic, but without leaning too hard on the bullet hell aspect of things.
But I would be remiss if I didn't say that where this game truly shines is it's aesthetic.
Cuphead is HAND DRAWN. Read that again.
HAND. FREAKING. DRAWN.
It nails the old classic cartoon aesthetic, from the art style, to the music, to the story telling, to the charm and character of it's world and inhabitants.
It's truly a nearly flawless game.
The Bad:
I did say nearly flawless, but not flawless.
There are two main areas where I have to dock it a couple of points.
First, the airplane pilot levels. Those can just honestly piss right off. The whole game you get upgrades and different weapons and can really customize your loadout to suit the boss, but with these levels, you are just stuck with this shit plane and it's basic bitch abilities. I did not enjoy these sections at all and they were a real low point in the game for me. They may have been more tolerable if you could change your loadout like the rest of the game.
Second, the second to last boss is a boss gauntlet, where if you die, you start AT THE VERY BEGINNING. I felt the entire game was tough, but fair, up until that point. The game is a tight 10 hours to beat, but I swear to god I spent 1.5 - 2 hours just on that section alone, and it was not enjoyable.
Summary:
Despite the above flaws I mentioned, Cuphead is an incredible game, worthy of all it's praise. It's a painstakingly developed game with meticulous attention to detail and fantastic art, music, and game direction. Even if you suck at games like this, I recommend playing because it was such a delight to experience. I doubt I'll ever play anything like it ever again, until they release Cuphead 2 that is.
Note on my ratings:
Treat my stars like Michelin Stars - just having one means the game is worth playing in some way.
1/2 ⭐: hot trash garbage, since you can't do zero stars here
⭐: below average, needs work
⭐⭐: average
⭐⭐⭐: pretty good
⭐⭐⭐⭐: excellent
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐: all time favourite
Hand Drawn??! - 10/10
Music & Sound Design - 9/10
Tough but Fair - 9/10
The Good:
This is one of those rare times a game truly lives up to it's hype. I'm not much for tough as nails games, but Cuphead walks a very nice line between difficult and doable. There are even simple versions of the bosses if you are struggling.
The gameplay is fun, fast, frantic, but without leaning too hard on the bullet hell aspect of things.
But I would be remiss if I didn't say that where this game truly shines is it's aesthetic.
Cuphead is HAND DRAWN. Read that again.
HAND. FREAKING. DRAWN.
It nails the old classic cartoon aesthetic, from the art style, to the music, to the story telling, to the charm and character of it's world and inhabitants.
It's truly a nearly flawless game.
The Bad:
I did say nearly flawless, but not flawless.
There are two main areas where I have to dock it a couple of points.
First, the airplane pilot levels. Those can just honestly piss right off. The whole game you get upgrades and different weapons and can really customize your loadout to suit the boss, but with these levels, you are just stuck with this shit plane and it's basic bitch abilities. I did not enjoy these sections at all and they were a real low point in the game for me. They may have been more tolerable if you could change your loadout like the rest of the game.
Second, the second to last boss is a boss gauntlet, where if you die, you start AT THE VERY BEGINNING. I felt the entire game was tough, but fair, up until that point. The game is a tight 10 hours to beat, but I swear to god I spent 1.5 - 2 hours just on that section alone, and it was not enjoyable.
Summary:
Despite the above flaws I mentioned, Cuphead is an incredible game, worthy of all it's praise. It's a painstakingly developed game with meticulous attention to detail and fantastic art, music, and game direction. Even if you suck at games like this, I recommend playing because it was such a delight to experience. I doubt I'll ever play anything like it ever again, until they release Cuphead 2 that is.
Note on my ratings:
Treat my stars like Michelin Stars - just having one means the game is worth playing in some way.
1/2 ⭐: hot trash garbage, since you can't do zero stars here
⭐: below average, needs work
⭐⭐: average
⭐⭐⭐: pretty good
⭐⭐⭐⭐: excellent
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐: all time favourite